Crackdown

Finds Drivers

On Tracks

Tickets Greet Motorists

On Program's First Day

The drivers had plenty of warning. And still, they stopped on the railroad track.

There were two Florida Highway Patrol cars parked nearby. Two off-duty troopers stood in plain view. And signals on both sides of the streetwarned motorists they're approaching a railroad crossing.

Yet, more than a dozen drivers got tickets on Monday for stopping on the track in heavy, rush hour traffic on Oakland Park Boulevard just west of Interstate 95.

The tickets were handed out as part of a safety program begun on Monday by Tri-Rail, and aimed at keeping drivers off the tracks in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach counties. The program comes after a recent rash of vehicle-train accidents in South Florida - seven in Broward and Palm Beach counties in the past five weeks.

Off-duty troopers from the Florida Highway Patrol, being paid by Tri-Rail, handed out tickets of up to $500 to drivers who got stuck on the tracks.

Some of the ticketed drivers said they were just following traffic.

Harry Etienne, 22, of Fort Lauderdale, got a ticket when eastbound traffic backed up at the light near I-95 and Oakland Park Boulevard.

Etienne said he had no choice but to stop his car on the tracks.

"What was I supposed to do?" Etienne asked. "All of a sudden, the car in front of me stopped. I had to stop."

The same thing happened to Maria Delia Rizzo, 44, of Pompano Beach. She said she had to stop her 1979 Chevrolet Caprice when changing lanes just before reaching the light, and got stuck on the tracks.

"It's not my fault," she said. "I couldn't pass the guy on the side pushed me into the other lane."

Trooper John Ross, who with Trooper Jeanne Thompson was giving out tickets, said many of the drivers he ticketed had good excuses.

"But when the choo-choo comes, what are they going to do?''

The track is used by Tri-Rail, Amtrak and CSX freight trains. State law prohibits a vehicle from stopping on a railroad track, regardless of whether a train is coming or not. Violators can be fined up to $500.

State law also requires pedestrians and drivers to stop no less than 15 feet from a railroad crossing when the signal or horn indicates that a train is coming. Violators risk a $1,500 fine.

The law also prohibits drivers from driving through, around or under any gate or barrier while it is down. Violators risk a $1,500 fine.

Thompson said there are plenty of warnings at crossings for drivers who plead that they are unaware that it's a railroad crossing.

Each crossing has two signs, on each side of the street, that blink when a train is coming. In addition, there are warning stripes painted on the street. "There's no way you can't know you're coming up to a train track," Thompson said. "And it's your responsibility to watch where you are."

That's what happened in the latest train-car accident, on Sunday, when a man from Pembroke Pines pulled around the crossing gate at Andrews Avenue and Flagler Avenue in Fort Lauderdale.

Kenneth Dube, 36, stopped his 1985 Chrysler Fifth Avenue on the tracks about 8 p.m., just before a 65-car Florida East Coast Railway freight train slammed into his car.

The Chrysler skidded for about 30 yards, then smashed into two concrete poles. Dube was taken to Broward General Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition on Monday.

He said the the safety program will continue daily "for the foreseeable future."Robert said two troopers will be stationed at randomly selected railroad crossings every day during rush hours.

There is a train-car accident in the United States about every 90 minutes, according to Tri-Rail. Nationwide, 2,400 people were killed or seriously injured in collisions at railroad crossings last year.

Tri-Rail has begun implementing a $1 million grade crossing program with the Florida Department of Transportation. The project will include improvements to warning devices and median barriers at 10 of the most dangerous crossings along the Tri-Rail corridor.